Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir (Book & Movie)

Book: 15/52

Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir

My Rating: 5/5

My first from Andy Weir, and I am surprised how I haven’t yet read The Martian yet, even after the super success of the movie. That has to be my next from him for sure now that I have loved this one big time. Project Hail Mary is now more famous, all thanks to its big screen adaptation, where Ryan Gosling plays the lead character of Micro-Biologist cum Scientist, Ryland Grace. Do you see the similarity in the names? I guess Andy actually wrote this with him in mind, as it works wonders for the book; you will agree if you have read the book. The subject the book is written on is a beaten-to-death topic of Humanity coming to an end, an apocalypse is about to come, and only one man can save the planet from the same. There comes our hero in the form of Ryland Grace to save humanity, who goes out to check why the sun’s light is dimming with two other astronauts. The woman behind Grace, Eva Stratt, is the most powerful in the world, with immunity from all the superpowers to get to the root cause and solve it by hook or crook. She is so amazing, and I loved their interactions big time. How she convinces Grade to take the journey is another matter, which kept me hooked right till the very penultimate chapter of the book. The journey to the point where he can fix the problem is going to take 13 years, and it's a suicide mission, as they will not have enough fuel to return to Earth. Will he be able to save seven billion people and the only blue planet in the universe from extinction, or not is the rest of it. But the way it is done was a totally new way, very exciting and engaging to say the least, I was hooked to the book from the very first page and had to dedicate time to it to finish it in four flat days, so I can go ahead and watch the movie this weekend. Right from the word go, where they realise that there is a virus killing the sunlight slowly and gradually, the way it is calculated how long it will last before the disaster actually hits, its repercussions and how they plan to solve it was a totally out of this world experience, super suspenseful and anything can go wrong at any time. 

What I loved most about the story is that multiple tracks are working at the same time and the original story is told in flashbacks, back and forth as the team travels out to their destination, how they get to it and what it takes to make a spaceship that fast and efficient plus the selection of the astronauts who will go on the death mission was totally terrific. And especially the interactions between all the world’s scientists coming together to save the planet, seeing Russians, Chinese and Americans on the same table was hilarious. I want to talk so much about the story, but there is no way I can do that without disclosing something important, which I don't want to do in the first place. Oh! Before I forget, I loved the Beatles connection too and had no idea that there was another drummer in the Beatles' group before Ringo Starr. How Beetles help Grace to save not only our planet but another one where actual life exists is why you need to read this book. But I must say it has so much science, especially physics and maths, that it became a turn off for me at times, and even the ending looked a little over stretched to me just for the thrill sake, but the twist in the end wasn’t predictable for me, and it kind of shocked me. I am not expecting a sequel, but if he actually writes one, I will be the first to get in line to get the book at the earliest and read it. 

Having said all that, I have huge expectations from its movie adaptation, which was released this week in our part of the world, and I have booked it for Saturday morning, first thing, that too a 4DX version to enjoy the space travel. Do let me know if you have read this one and loved it too. I am so much looking forward to reading the Martian soon followed by Artemis from Andy Weir. 

Movie: Again as it always happens, movie isn’t half as great as the book was especially when it comes to detailing, character development and story going places. Eva Stratt’s character is such a huge let down, I wouldn’t even call it half baked :(. Ryan Gosling does full justice with the author backed role, totally in the character and suits it big time. Visually I didn’t find the movie that appealing as the Martian was and we have seen way better movies based on space.  Even when I watched it in a 4DX theatre just for that zero gravity feel and all that. I had huge expectations fro its length of two and half hours or little more but it wasnt upto the mark. Rocky’s character was the best part of the whole movie but it takes quite a while to get to that mark in the first place but from that moment movie goes on a different high and I loved the way it ends. One thing I must say that the movie doesnt have that much science thrown on its audience face as much the book does and makes it a little too much. Overall a pretty average flick nothing special that one should check it out on the big screen only. I will rate it a generous 3/5. 

 

The Lowland - Jhumpa Lahiri (Book).

Book: 14/52
The Lowland - Jhumpa Lahiri.
My Rating: 5/5.

This is my second book from her after the much-loved and admired "The Namesake", which went on to become a superhit novel and almost equally good movie, to say the least. I read it long back and still remember it as a terrific immigrant story which revolves around Kolkata and Boston, in the same way as the story of The Lowland goes around. Unfortunately, I have visited Kolkata only once, and that too very briefly, for one night, but the way she has captured the essence of the city in her stories is simply unbelievable. I was glad that her characters find the city exactly how I found it back in the late 90s, as smog-covered, quite polluting, with stunning visuals and a typical Bengali lifestyle, which I loved. Let's not even talk about the Music, books, and plethora of Cinema that the city offers to an outsider who is in love with those art forms. I missed driving through the Hawda bridge, but I will fulfil that wish pretty soon in my next long drive, taking me to the North East via Kolkata this year or next, maybe. Lowland covers the life of two siblings born a little before India's independence, while the country and city in question go through so much tumult of their own. They are superb companions and almost do everything together, and I assumed this will be another terrific story of two siblings fighting the world together, but to my shock and surprise, the way their lives take a turn because of the then politics, one moves out of India to pursue a better future, whereas the other gets involved the burning situation of his city. The younger one gets married much to his parents annoyment, leaves a pregnant while when he gets shot dead for the revolution that he becomes a part of (how and why, you need to read the book for) and as it happened in all of our 70's movies and life-times, the other brother's life takes a solid turn to face the life ahead for himself, his parents and his brother's young pregnant widowed wife. 

Mesmerising is the way she has captured the life near the lowland, which is across from their ancestral house, on the border of Tollygunge club, where the brothers once jumped the boundary to see for themselves, right next to a Mosque, there is so much going on in every page of the book that the very chapter kept me hooked to the narrative. It again took me back in time to my own life back in the day in the sleepy town of Bhopal, where life wasn't much different growing up in the 80's. Incredible is the way she captures so many emotions through her characters, the mother who wants her kids to be together, and she doesn't like the way either of them gets married. The way a widow was handled back in the day was heart-touching. The way elder brother's life changes after he goes to the USA, gets into a relationship too reluctantly, and it was so beautiful to read the detailing, but how unfortunately he gets married, and the way his wife takes him for a ride was something I could never predict. My heart and mind kept on asking so many whys without getting any answers till it all ended. I will say that in the most intriguing 400 pages that I have read in the past few years totally kept me hooked to it, but the way it ended was so amazingly convincing and fulfilling in a way. The way she touches the delicate topics of the Vietnam War and gets into the great detailing of the Naxalite movement or the political scenario back home was incredible. Also, the way she has captured the life of NRIs who return briefly to their motherland was totally a believable experience that our relatives go through even now, as when they return, I will say nothing much changes in our part of the world, but the geography may be a little bit different. This was an emotional fest from all angles, but the best was done by or through her younger brother's wife's point of view, as how she gets on with her life and takes drastic steps after a decade living in the USA with her husband and daughter was mind-blowing. 

Now, after reading this, I am too keen on getting her story collection "Interpreter of Maladies", which was not only her debut book but also got her a Pulitzer in fiction. Unfortunately, she has written only three novels, including The Lowland. I am looking forward to her other works big time, provided we have them in our library, and maybe I will read The Namesake yet again and follow it with the superb movie. Do let me know if you have read this one and loved or which one is your favourite Jhumpa Lahiri book? 

The Illicit Happiness of Other People - Manu Joseph (Book).

Book: 13/52
The Illicit Happiness of Other People - Manu Joseph
My Rating: 4/5

Author and his book’s title attracted me this time :), I have read a few reviews of his other books and actually wanted to try one of them myself. I expected a pretty easy going book with tongue in cheek humour typical Indian kind or call it South Indian but how wrong it turned out to be. Although it starts on a lighter note but the way story develops and ends, blew up my mind totally especially the last 100 pages. A typical Malayali Christian family stuck in Madras in the early 90s with two kids Unni Chako and his younger brother Thoma Chako  followed by their mother Mariamma who happens to be an economics post graduate but serving as a house-wife and her anarchist husband Ousep Chako who is good for nothing but somehow ploughs along in his Journalist job. One fine day something leads Unni to take his own life by jumping from their third floor terrace, and the intriguing story starts when Ousep leaves everything aside to find why his 17 year old son did what he did. Gradually he covers a few clues in the form of Unni’s comics that he was writing, he hides them from his wife so he could uncover the truth behind his son’s death. In the quest of uncovering the truth he becomes enemy number one of all the kids he wanted to grill or parents of those who happened to be his son’s best friends. How he uncovers and what was the final reason is disclosed on the very last page of the book much to my shock, surprise and heart-break too. 

There are subplots in the story too in the form of Mariamma’s flash back from her childhood who she unfortunately narrates to her son before his death and he vows to take a revenge on her behalf. Her suffering is next level because of her drunkard good for nothing husband who threatens of committing a suicide and how she handles it with her younger son in toe was totally amazing. There is so much going on in the initial 250 pages and Author captures the then life in the Madras neighbourhood so beautifully that he actually took me back in time to my own younger self back in the day and I could draw so many parallels from my own life with my parents and siblings. Unni and Thoma’s story terrifically sounds so genuine and doesn’t read like a fiction at all. Especially the love and sensual angle in it, couldn’t believe that someone could write it so beautifully as what a teenager goes through in real life. You’ve got to read the book to know more as I cannot tell you anymore without disclosing too much. On top of all that it reads like a proper thriller or I can say at least most of it, till the point where the story takes a psychological turn and that’s when it faltered at least for me with so much science thrown in the last 100 odd pages and with that unpredictable yet a simple ending from my point of view. I expected a bomb blast in the end which never comes but having said that I will maintain that it takes nothing away from the story as it still was a 350+ paged book that I had to finish in flat four sittings as I just couldn’t keep myself in the suspense. 

On a side note, this became another book from my recent reads which talks a lot about meaningless life and its futility or man’s search for a purpose or deeper meaning of life. Unfortunately I am not picking these books to understand the meaning of life or any deeper theory as such but somehow they all touch that topic one way or another, some in a very shallow way but this one takes it to a totally new level, if you have read it, I am sure you will agree with me as the kind of enlightenment that Unni Chako gets finally was something which made me actually think and take a note of. I was like WHOA, I didn’t expect this from the book or the Author or the story at least that he was telling. 

Do let me know if you have read this one or any other from Manu Joseph which you would like to recommend. I am definitely looking forward to a few more from him in very near future.  

 

Sarvshreshtha Kahaniyan (Hindi) - Jai Shankar Prasad (Book).

Book: 12/52
Sarvshreshtha Kahaniyan (Hindi) - Jai Shankar Prasad
My Rating: 4/5

Last month, I received an Amazon Gift card worth 1000/- from my credit card bank, and guess what I did with that :). Bought a pack of 4 Hindi books from the iconic literati of Jai Shankar Prasad, Tagore, Sharat Chandra and my personal favourite Premchand. I believe my Hindi has gone way too weak, or shall I say below standard, when it comes to reading (let's not even talk about my writing skills), hence I have decided to at least read 30% of my yearly quota in Hindi to keep up with the language. And on top of that, I vow to impress my parents by sending them the same books once I am done reading them, and give them another reason to be happy that I haven’t forgotten my roots yet ;) If you know what I mean. This was a terrific read from Jai Shankar Prasad, which took me back in time as most of the stories are from the mid-19th century, some as long as 30 pages long, while some were as short as one page (back to back though). But I must say a lot of them will remain in my memory for a long time to come. One of them was a young widow who hosts a warrior in her humble abode as he somehow gets lost from his own men. She feeds him and lets him rest one night in her hut. Cut to 47 years, his associate comes looking for the hut and realizing that the lady had passed long ago, makes an eight-sided temple in her memory (as ordered by the warrior), but couldn’t name it after her as he had no clue what she was called. Now, guess the warrior she hosted that night? None other than Humayu. And many more such gems he has penned in this collection of stories. 

One thing common to all his stories is the beautiful flora and fauna from across India. It took me quite a while to understand the city and state that he was capturing through his character's stories so beautifully, yet not at all easy to read for me, the fragile Hindi reader with almost nil vocabulary. This will surely qualify as the first book in my reading history that actually made me Google some chaste Hindi words so I could get to know them better and draw the relevance in the story. No doubt he made my vocabulary stronger with each story, and I was surprised to read so many old school names that stood for so cool references that I could never imagine. There is another memorable story that I will never forget, which was based on the last few days of Shah Jahan when his son took over the kingdom and put him under house arrest. How his own daughter Jahanara takes care of him till his last breath and how he pleads with his own son to spare him, but in response, he reminds him of their own history when it comes to taking over the empire was totally heart-touching. But I wonder, even after the story taking place in Agra, that too very near the Yamuna river, he deprives the reader of any mention of the great Taj Mahal, I can’t say for what reason. And a top third favourite will another terrrific story of a Nomad woman who falls for a married man just because the man who she asks to read his letter to her mentions that that the guy was in love with him whereas the letter says otherwise. How the matter gets resolved as the man in question visits the letter reader with his family and what happens to the woman, you need to read the book and find the story :). 

Do let me know if you have read this one or any other works of Jai Shankar Prasad. Although I am not much into poetry, otherwise I would have given his Epic Poetry collection - Kamayani, a try for sure. 

 

The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera (Book).

Book: 11/52
The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera
My Rating: 4/5

Sometimes I surprise myself with my own naivete :) As it happened, when I picked up this book thinking it was from another Indian writer (welcoming brickbats for not knowing anything about Mr Kundera till yesterday). The first page introduction opened my eyes to the fact that he happened to be a Czech writer who had lived in France since 1975 (precisely when I was born). I should have read his name more like the Italian city I love big time, I guess. His books are translated into English by various elite people, as it goes, and they still make it any easier for mango people like me. And guess what, this book was banned for quite a few years after its publication, as Milan is not only very straightforward when it comes to writing from the heart, I can debate that he never wrote this one, at least from his head. His own theory of meaningless life is told through four of his protagonists, who go through so much in their lives in the mid 20th century, while the world goes through so many tumults. Especially the Russian invasion of a nearby country, one of which happens to be my favourite character, a surgeon whose life’s mission was to go through as many affairs in life as possible. On his last count, he had as many as 200 women in his life, other than ofcourse his wife, who herself wasn’t as faithful as you might think. Why? There is no reason why he does what he feels like, just like the author himself, who believes in questioning everything and doing what your heart tells you to do without any regrets. Ofcourse there is so much more going on in his love and life story that kept me surprised with each chapter. After Russion invasion, they simply forbade him from practising medicine as a punishment for something he wrote against the regime, and he went on to wash windows for a living around Prague and Vienna for a change.

What I loved about this book (merely 300+ pages) which was too short for the subject it covers and Milan’s theories. Almost all four of his main characters are unfaithful to their partners at one point in time or another. One of the author’s theories, which I will never forget, is when he makes his characters debate God’s existence. He says if there was a God (he says Jesus precisely), he must have a mouth, so he for sure will have intestines and certainly will eat and poop too, right? Now, can we beat that in any way? And let me not get into details anymore, as you get the drift and can read it in great detail in the book for yourself. I personally don’t believe in God and feel I am more of a science guy, so I totally agreed with his theory, dunno how my parents will read this one, and it will be very interesting to know the names they are going to call this guy :) If I send them this book. But no doubt I totally loved his theory of meaningless life, where we actually get no feedback, as there is no coming back from the dead to know if we lived it well. Or as if life is going to give us another chance to relive and do it any better this time, as one life passes into an unknown abyss. He justifies the title in a simply amazing way through his character’s stories so well that I was totally sold on the unbearable being myself, but is there alternate to it? Need to pick up a few of his other works to know if he offers any solutions in any of them.

Do let me know if you have read The Unbearable Lightness of Being or any other Milan Kundera book. I would love to give it a try.
 

The Glass Palace - Amitav Ghosh (Book).

Book: 10/52
The Glass Palace - Amitav Ghosh
My Rating: 5/5

I am in love with Mr Ghosh’s writing after reading his Sea of Poppies last year, although I must say his books are not easy to read, but as much as I could grasp from them, they are turning out to be beautiful reads. This one was no exception as it gives a terrific account of life in Burma (now Myanmar) from 1880 till the late 90’s and in between 20 years from our own town of Ratnagiri too. Unbelievably detailed account of an Indian expat Rajkumar’s life in the then Burma, where he falls in love with a teenage maid Dolly of the then queen who he meets only once. The most important character of the story is the Glass Palace itself, where the royal family resides. How this young guy's life takes a turn from working on a ship which lands him in Rangoon in late 19th century, after doing odd jobs how he becomes a man of substance and ends up finding his love after all is the rest of the story. The way Mr Ghosh has shown the life of the King and Queen who get ousted by the British Empire in search of Teak wood and how they end up living their life in Ratnagiri under house arrest, also what happens to the princesses, was totally heart-touching. Another important character gets involved while they are under house arrest in Ratnagiri: the collector and his wife. It's not only the rags-to-riches and back to rags story of Rajkumar, but also of the three generations of his own family, parallel to the royal family too. Fortunately, I had spent a few weeks in Ratnagiri a decade ago, and this book took me back to that town with its beautiful visuals, especially the jetty mentioned in the story, as a lot of the story takes place around the rivers and sea too. One of my close friends great grand father was the then Governor of Ratnagiri. I kept looking for a known reference in this fictional story, too. Mingblowing is the way he has captured the politics of war, imperialism and the British invasion of so many countries, the plight of the people affected by the same and the politics of ever-changing loyalty of the Indian army was shocking. And he does all that with half a dozen characters only from all walks of life, an expat Rajkumar from India, Saya John a local from Burma who comes to his rescue, Burma’s last King and Queen with their two daughters and third on the way, an Indian Civil Servant taking care of King and Queen in India and last but not the least his Wife followed by three generations of all of them, while so much goes in the world around. 

What I loved most about his storytelling is the way he refuses to give a clear timeline of the story but lets you capture it through his love of cars back in the day :). I consider myself a very passionate car guy, but after reading this book and the way he showed the beautiful cars from our own history, I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t heard a majority of their names, let alone the details he shares of V6S or V8’s, trucks and the much important Daytona too. Post India’s independence, he started giving the years. The entire story is spread between Burma, Ratnagiri and the Malay region with terrific detailed accounts of what locals wear, eat, their houses, work culture, dialects, and so much more. No doubt Mr Ghosh is a genius, as the way he has woven this story with so much going on in India back in the day, but he never makes it so political that it loses steam and goes away from his characters. I was totally engrossed in both the central characters as they and their generations go through so much with the tumultuous times. Ofcourse it all was spread over 550+ pages and it took me a good 15+ days to finish it, but loved it to no end. I am definitely looking forward to reading so much more from him now and will come back to his latest outing the Ghost Eye, by year's end, I guess. 

Do let me know if you have read the Ghost Eye and loved it too. Also, let me know if you have a favourite Amitav Ghosh book too. I would love to read it at the earliest. 

 

Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë (Book).

Book: 9/52
Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë.
My Rating: 5/5

I had to read this one very fast because I wanted to watch the much-awaited adaptation on the big screen, which came out last weekend. And what a treat this one turns out to be for me. Now the latest adaptation has Jacob Elrodi playing Mr Heathcliff, and I totally loved Jacob in his last outing on the big screen as Frankenstein’s Monster, yet again with a totally new take which touched my heart big time, as the Monster always does, as many times I end up reading the Mary Shelley book. This one was no different, as I am sure you will agree if you have read Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff is no less than a monster when it comes to this harrowing story of what he does to the family who adopts him in the first place as a good deed. How he rips apart the family in its entirety was totally shocking to me, as I guess I had forgotten it after I read it for the first time when I was in school. How shrued and cunning the man turns out was beyond me, the way he falls in love with Catherine and she for him, making me think this will be a rebellious love story of sorts but the way Cathy takes a stand to get married to someone else (why? you need to read the book) and then Heathcliff vanishes for a few years but as soon as he comes back the revenge drama of sorts starts. The entire story takes place between two mansions a few miles apart from each other, with the majority of it taking place in the family owned Wutheing Heights, the haunted mansion to say the least. I loved the way Emily carves out the house as a solid character in itself. The whole story is narrated as a flashback to one Mr Lockwood, who becomes the latest tenant in the second house and visits Wuthering Heights to meet and greet his landlord. A very simple yet totally intriguing story kept me hooked to the very end whereas the ending is dislosed right in the first chapter itself, but it works beautifully to know how and what all happens in the first place.


Do let me know if you have read and loved Wuthering Heights or if you have liked any of its earlier adaptations, as the current movie is getting a lot of negative reviews as of now. I am certainly going to watch it as soon as I get back to my town after a short vacation.  

The Rosie Effect - Graeme Simsion (Book).

Book: 8/52

The Rosie Effect - Graeme Simsion

My Rating: 4/5

After I finished “The Rosie Project”, I had to read this one at the earliest to know how life goes forward for Prof Don Tillman (PhD in Genetics) when he tries to win over his love Rosie by doing a proper research project on her. Now, this one takes the story ahead as they get married and move to NY from Melbourne, as Rosie has to finish her thesis while he finishes his study of drunken rats' liver :). This is all about how he makes himself a better husband and a perfect father. But Don being Don, he has to help so many other lesser mortals’ problems too, like his ex-rock star drummer who is having a tough time solving his Beer stock problem in a sealed room, with another friend Dave’s refrigerator business going downhill, with his wife not being too happy with him and all that. Much to Rosie’s annoyment his philanderer friend and mentor Gene also makes an entry into their household in the USA. In between, Don gets arrested too for a reason that was not only hilarious, but the way he solves his problem makes it even better. As I said earlier Graeme Simsion will show up somewhere between PGW and Frederik Backman in my reading ratings and this second book from the series was no exception, totally hilarious affair and egaging till the very end where Don almost becomes a terrorist of sorts and gets on the verge of getting arrested again, you’ve got to read this one for his histrionics which never come to an end whatever situation life may take him on. Having said all that, I must say this one, in comparison to its earlier coutnerpart wasn’t that great or maybe it didn't work for me the way Rosie Project worked, but even then it made a fantastically quick read without any doubts. And I loved the Indian connection, especially the way he makes a mantra to calm himself in tough situations. Now that I have finished this one, I am eagerly looking forward to the third and last from Don Tillman series to see how it all will end for him once he becomes a father. 

Since I started the first book and now that I am done with the sequel too, the character of Din Tillman keeps on reminding me of my own favourite, much-loved Forrest Gump for some reason. I keep on drawing parallels between them two, don't you think Don Tillman is almost as good or maybe even better because of his PhD than Gump, but is almost equally fantastic in everything he does with aplomb, finesse and to the perfect result. Have you read this one or any other by Graeme Simsion? Do let me know, as I am sure to check out a little more from him once I am done with this series. 

 

Better than the Movies - Lynn Painter (Book).

Book: 7/52

Better than the Movies - Lynn Painter

My Rating: 2/5

My daughter was surprised when I raided her room for this book, as I had run out of my own books and couldn’t go to the library last week. I had no expectations from this one, as going by the title, it did look like a teenage love story, and I wasn’t wrong. Turns out to be a teenage girl's story of finding a happy ending with her forever crush, how she gets to him after dreaming about him all his life is the gist of the story. Then comes along her handsome hunk of a neighbour with whom she has a permanent tiff because of a single parking spot in the neighbourhood where both of them try to park their car, much to the other's annoyance. Things take a good turn when this next door good looking neighbour starts helping her land her crush. What happens next was a pretty predictable teenage love triangle with loads of referneces of love stories (movies) and a plethora of love songs. Later, things fall into the right place with the ending confirming a sequel :). It wasn’t a bad read at all, thanks to the side characters, her dead mother, loving stepmom and a cool best friend, they all make it a good time-pass read. I would have definitely given it an extra star as the girl works in a bookstore (part-time) and the author somehow rated Julia Quinn (Bridgerton fame) at par with Jane Austen (like really??), thereby losing one star from me. Although I finished it in three sittings, and yes, it did make my to-be-seen movie list a bit longer and gave me 30-odd love songs, which made it to my Spotify list. 

So far, there is no movie based on the book, but it will definitely make up for a good TV series whenever it may come. Do let me know if you have read Better than the Movies and liked it too. 

 

The Rosie Project - Graeme Simsion (Book).

Book: 6/52
The Rosie Project - Graeme Simsion
My Rating: 5/5

So I continue to read 5/5 books this year, and this one was no exception on that front :). I landed on this book in our little library in Pune, as I had read quite a few glowing reviews on the same in the past. I must say that I loved this book big time, and the story was so amazing that I wished it never ended. I am definitely going to put Graeme somewhere between my love for PG Wodehouse and Frederik Backman, his main character Don Tillman, an Aussie, is no less than Jeeves, Wooster and much-loved and adored Ove for that matter. Don is 40ish, PhD in Genetics and is not only a scientist but also a Prof of repute in a notable university, and on top of all that, he is an Aspie, as he calls all Asperger’s syndrome people with love. So that makes him a superhuman of sorts with a very set and organised life, but the way Graeme has written the story and character, it is not only hilarious but also made me emotional too. Now that's another thing that Don doesn’t feel emotional at all, and how? I can’t explain, but one has to read to know. So the story goes forward when one fine day he decides that he needs to get a life partner, and he starts “The Wife Project” with his best friend Gene, who is not only his colleague but a father figure too, with his much-loved wife Claudia, who is a Psychologist, so you get the hang of the people he goes around with. Unfortunately, his wife's project doesn’t do much help, but Gene finds a woman called Rosie, who is a total misfit, but then with Rosie, Don starts another project called “The Father Project” with her to find her biological father. And with many twists and turns, after intercontinental travel in search of her father, will they get him, or will they cook up their own story? is the rest of the novel. 

The book is hardly 300+ pages, and I found it completely compulsively readable, totally unputdownable, thrilling, intruiguing and so mushy, so romantic. I wish and pray they never make a movie on this one, as Tom Hanks is too old and Jacob Elordi is too tall to play Don’s character and won't look like a PhD guy, either, and I could not imagine any other actor playing that amazing character as of now. I am amazed by the way Graeme has written such a beautiful story around Science and technical terms, yet it works wonders with the readers who do not know the field, especially the way it revolves around the University Campus with 50-odd doctors (PhDs included) being examined for the father project, most hilariously. And the way Don, who is an accomplished cocktail bartender and a licensed server of alcohol, goes through his days alone with such finesse is to die for. I am so much in love with him that it will be very hard for me not to get the rest of the two books in the series at the earliest, hoping and praying that our library has all the parts :). I loved the bookcover too, with a lobster in prime focus, I wish I could eat a lobster every Tuesday just like Don did all his life till he met Rosie. 

Do let me know if you have read the Rosie Project and loved it too. Also, let me know who you would love to see as Don and Rosie in the movie, if one ever gets made. I will pick Emily Blunt for sure as Rosie. 

 

Yellowface - Rebecca F Kuang (Book).

Book: 5/52
Yellowface - Rebecca F Kuang
My Rating: 2/5

I thought this year I was going to break my own record by picking books that I won’t be able to rate below 5/5. So far, it was going great till I landed on this highly reviewed book on Goodreads, Fable and our own reading group, and it derailed my plan in the very first month of the year, how sad it is. Surprisingly, it is written by a Chinese writer from the perspective of a white American woman whose motto in life is to prove that “White Lives Matter” too. And it shouldn’t always be the minority or downtrodden who should get all the privileges, as they so much deserve it. But the way it's all done through her story is so jumbled up and unreadable to an extent, but somehow kept ploughing on to finish it to a very predictable ending and not exciting at all. So the story goes like two college friends (Yale graduates), Athena, a Chinese-origin super successful writer, and Juniper, whose (American) first book bombs. Ofcourse Athena has a terrific life, super rich with another upcoming book in the very near future based on the Chinese Labour Corps who fought in the First World War in Europe, and Juniper has no clue what she will be writing next. One fine day, while eating pancakes at Athena’s place for the very first time, she chokes and dies right in front of June. Although she tries to save her and calls emergency services and all, while they come and take away her body, she does steal the draft copy of the book that Athena was writing. What happens next was totally predictable: she edits the story and makes it her own, and gets it published under her name with super success; even a movie deal was on the horizon when horror strikes in the form of a Twitter account to uncover the real story behind the book. 

I expected it to get better once the reality starts coming out, but then it becomes a story of justification from June about how she wasn’t wrong in doing what she did, so on, so forth. It wasn’t even gripping post 100 odd pages as she keeps on fighting with her own ghosts and how she tries to make it worth it to a very predictable finale, as I mentioned, rather I found it to be pretty hilarious. If this is the reality of the publishing world as of today, we would rather stick back to our good old classics, I must say. One thing I totally disliked in this novel is that RFK herself is a Chinese born Author, but the way she presents a white female’s perspective of Chinese people, their writing or for that matter, even their food, was totally in bad taste. I seriously couldn’t believe it to be true in today’s time, especially. I guess it's her own views that she has portrayed through her characters of their own insecurities by being in a country they can’t call it Home or where they feel they are being sidelined or betrayed, or face racism. I found it to be a totally one-sided account and was totally shocked by the treatment of it all. Another thing which didn’t work for me at all in this one is the use of Instagram, Twitter and too much of the internet in the story. I felt like I was watching the real life of aspiring authors rather than actually reading a novel by one of them. The last 50 pages were pretty challenging, and very easily this would have gone on to become my first DNF of the last 5 odd years, I must say. On other thoughts, I believe it's a rant from a Chinese author on the world being full of Chinese products so much that we cannot live without them, yet we still hate China and its people for no reason. 

Do let me know if you have read Yellowface and liked it somehow. I am for sure staying away from her other works in the future. 

 

First Blood – David Morrell (Book).

Book: 4/52
First Blood – David Morrell
My Rating: 5/5

Sometimes I really wonder about myself, why at times I don’t read the books based on my favourite characters from childhood, and this one was one of those characters much loved in the movie adaptation made in 1982, and Sylvester Stallone lived that lifetime role in such a way that even today the movie works for me big time. Long back, I came to know that it was, of course, based on a book, but unfortunately, it wasn’t available anywhere in our part of the world, and Uncle Bezos was too mean to keep it very expensive, finally black Friday sale plunged its price to my budget, and I jumped on it. Again, it will be a cliché to call the book way better than the movie, as it always is the case, but that takes nothing away from the action-packed movie. Let me tell you why. First, the little story behind Rambo’s name, as to why and how he was named Rambo, can only be found in the book. And then the movie doesn’t offer any in-depth about the three main characters, as is usually the case, especially of Rambo and his nemesis, played by the local cop Teasle, as to why they were hell-bent on killing each other. First thing was why Teasle, being a Sheriff wants Rambo, a nomad, to cross his town at the earliest, as he believes if Rambo remains in town, he might create chaos. But Teasle has no idea that he had been ousted by 15 other towns as well, right after he came back from Vietnam, a war veteran, winner of the Congressional Medal of Honour, a Green Beret, and he has no idea what he is going through mentally. Teasle, himself, was a war veteran (award-winning but lower than Rambo) from the 50’s Korean War, and even after they both knew about each other, they still kept on going hard and made it no easier for the other one. Rambo decides to burn the town down and kill Teasle, and as expected, Teasle wants to kill Rambo with his own hands. How it all is done is totally terrific, and I must say, I haven’t read a better thriller than this ever. David Morrell offers all the perspectives in this story, and both the main characters talk themselves out or into what they are doing and justify it to themselves, too, that they are totally right in doing what they are doing. The story has almost everything one can imagine in a thriller, a hero on a motorcycle chased by cop cars, a gorilla war in a mountain, sniffer dogs, helicopters, crashing cars, a burning town, explosions and a proper revenge with people being killed left, right and centre that I lost count of the same. 

Then comes Trautman as a respite in both their lives, the man who not only trained the killing machine called Rambo but also knows everything about the man, as to how to stop him from destroying his own life as he goes on a rampage. Right at the start of the book, the author states very clearly that if you have seen the movie and loved it, you should be ready for a shocking ending . Now that, got me thinking of all the alternate endings that I could imagine, of-course I am not going to tell you what it is, but I must say that he totally blew my mind by that ending and now I have to pick the second from the series which is even three times more expensive than the first , just to know if this is how it ends (or he offers a respite for the readers). What I loved big time about this book was that no matter how bad the cop was, he kept referring to Rambo as “Kid”, but then never gave up on his own elephantine ego till the very end. And I must say that the book is not only way better than the movie but equally thrilling, full of action with great details that the movie doesn’t offer due to its short runtime and the characters are so well developed that at times he made it so convincing for me the reader that there was no villain the story, just the circumstances to be blamed. I am sure that I am going to read this one again in the very near future for its racy narrative and almost too short length of mere 308 pages, but after I have read all three from the series. The first part was based on his book and since the movie was a blockbuster, they decided to make two more movies with Rambo in lead which David Morrell who wasn’t very happy with the script novelized the same with his own version, now I am so curious to know how it differed from the movies which was good if not great to watch, I will get the balance two too and read them asap. The knife shown on the book cover is a childhood dream, Dunno what I am going to do with it once I get it, but every time I come across it, the desire to get it becomes stronger . 

Have you read The First Blood? Or any other David Morrell novel, do let me know, as I am for sure going to read so much more from him at the earliest. 

First Blood: Rambo the movie: Just watched the movie too, as I simply couldn’t resist seeing those amazing characters on screen after I finished and loved the book. I must say, Oh My God! What an amazing movie this one turns out to be, even after ageing 45+ years, it remains one of my all-time favourites. Sylvester Stallone at his best, superb action, almost no dialogue, but a total visual delight right from the first scene to the very end, even loved that song with the end credits. Of course, they had taken huge cinematic liberties while adapting the book, and even Stallone was a part of the screenplay writing, which I am sure made it this good.

 

Man-Eaters of Kumaon – Jim Corbett (Book).

Book: 3/52.
Man-Eaters of Kumaon – Jim Corbett.
My Rating: 5/5.

I have read suspense and thriller novels, and then I got this one from our little library in Pune, which beats them all without any doubt. Unbelievable true stories from the world’s best wildlife sportsmen (when killing wild animals, especially man-eaters, was considered a sport), his own account of ten choicest tiger killings was totally terrific to read. Jim Corbett, a British-origin hunter-naturalist and colonel in the then British Indian Army, was born in Nainital, was known for tracking down and hunting man-eating tigers and leopards in the Garhwal and Kumaon region of the Indian Himalayas in the early twentieth century. All the instances of such killings in this book take place between year 1930-1938 because he called it quits and completely moved out of this sport and stopped taking Govt requests for such killings. Few of the tigers that he was forced to kill had not only killed but also eaten, at times more than 450+ people back then, let alone cattle and harmed so many more during their crossing into human colonies. My timing of reading this book couldn’t be perfect, as a few weeks ago, a wild Leopard was recorded in our neighbouring society’s CCTV, and people from nearby National Forests were on the lookout in the surrounding areas to capture and rehabilitate him/her to the right place. We were indeed forced to remain indoors for almost a weekend while it was on a wild hunt in the area, which gave me a glimpse of the real-life accounts from the book, how those people back then remained terror-stricken for days, weeks and months at a time to wait for the Shikaris to kill the wild animals. No doubt why they have named one of the best wildlife sanctuaries in our part of the world aptly as “Jim Corbett National Park” (I’m yet to visit it though). 

 

What I loved about this book is that it is written with great detail, every step of his journey, personal thoughts while he killed those much-loved tigers to save humanity, and reasons why they turned man-eating in the first place. His theories were always so unbelievably correct, even his predictions that the animal he was chasing has his own flaws, which all turned out to be correct by the time he hunted them. And it’s always not the tigers or lions that he came across, there was no dearth of Snakes, Bears and even Leopards on the prowl while he kept hunting with or without any support from anyone. Another thing I loved about his narration was that he always called India as our country and our people and never like he was a visitor. The way he was hosted by poor villagers and always loved what he was offered was heartening to read; such a gentleman he was. He himself was not a very religious man, going by his texts, and he didn’t believe in many superstitions, but still, he respected all that whenever he came across such beliefs by people of the Garhwal or Kumaon region. The entire book was so thrilling at times that it made me hold my breath to read further while he was chasing a ten-foot tiger or being chased by the same animal without his knowledge, and at times, he was as close as a few feet before saving himself from a tragedy. Hilarious was the account of villager’s accounts when they exaggerated his stories in narrating the same in front of other people, much to his amusement in front of him, but being a gentleman, he would let them enjoy their moments of glory, totally amazing to read. There are two dedicated chapters to other than his love of Tigers and Leopards in the book. One dedicated to his much-loved dog, a spaniel – Robin, who saved his life multiple times and another one to his favourite hobby of fishing, which he was able to do on and off while hunting. 

 

Have you read the Man-Eaters of Kumaon or any other book by Jim Corbett? Do let me know, as I will certainly be looking forward to his other works at the earliest.

 

Joy in the Morning – P G Wodehouse (Book).

Book: 2/52.
Joy in the Morning – P G Wodehouse
My Rating: 5/5

PGW is my all-time favorite Author whenever I am looking to laugh out loud while reading a book . Last time I remember I read one of his right after I finished Mr King’s “The Shining” and couldn’t sleep out of sheer terror that it gave me. I was reading it in the dead of the night to forget the horror I had gone through earlier in the day, and PGW had me in splits with Bertie Wooster and his man Jeeves’ histrionics whenever he gets in trouble with his love life or his terrific aunt Agatha (not Christie though) and his friends in need of good advice. I laughed out so loud that my mother, who was then visiting me, threated me to throw me out of the house as if I had gone crazy. She only let go of it when I showed her the book cover, and then she warned me to read a PGW only when I am alone and its proper day light so as not to bother anyone around . Of course, this one was no different, with Wooster and Jeeves game on again, but this time in a totally different fix. So, the story goes that Bertie’s Ex is now engaged with one of his friends, and there is a threat that she might bounce back on him, much to his distaste, but he always has Jeeves to his rescue, and how they solve it again had me in splits by simply kicking someone’s backside, how you ask me or rather whose? You’ve got to read the book to find out. In between, there were so many parallel tracks, one with one of his close buddies who became a constable and that too a very serious and law-abiding and implementing one, how he bothers Bertie is another story. The less said about his much-loved (or hated) uncle, who has his own secret challenge to go through, and then there is this fancy dress party where all of them come together and are saved by none other than our own genius Jeeves, who, if served fish for breakfast, can have his mind work in full speed on solutions for all. 

 

The best part of any PGW book is the interactions between two souls, which always start with a Ho! And go on Twiddle Doon for the reader, or can go to have a concatenation in between. I laughed at this love for Shakespeare, whom he still doesn’t credit for any of his writings, but his ghostwriter gets all the credit. Also, I totally agree when his friends compare him to no one else but Earnest Hemingway,  self-praise is best, but one that leaves a huge smile on my face always. So, in this little gem of a book, which lasted only 3 days, all Bertie’s forebodings are fully justified. In his efforts to oil the wheels of commerce for his uncle, promote the course of true love for himself and a dear friend and to avoid the consequences of a vendetta coming his way to send him out of the country, he becomes prey of all and sundry; in fact, only Jeeves can save him and how. 

 

Do let me know if you have read this one and loved it, or if you have a personal favourite from PGW. I so much wish one of his books was adapted as a movie or a TV series so I could give faces to so many much-loved characters. I am looking forward to reading at least half a dozen of his books this year to make him my most-read author of the year .